STL City SC Player Ratings in 0-0 draw on the road against Houston
by Henry Chappell
Starting with the positives, it's another match day without a loss for St Louis City SC. Only one defeat in their last nine matches sounds good on paper, but getting to the bare bones of the team shows why the streak of little defeats leaves them sitting 9th in the Western Conference.
The match against Houston brought the similar trends and identities to be expected from both teams. Houston didn't allow as many threats deep and edged the opposition possession wise. City was attempting to implement their press to create counter attacking chances, but didn't find enough high-quality shots, with according to Matt Baker, having three shots with >.10 xG.
These type of matches will occur, but with the third straight week with the same starting eleven and lack of quality chances being an issue in two of the last three matches, it will be interesting to see what possible changes or tweaks Carnell could make in his squad.
Roman Bürki: 10 — These kinds of ratings are rare to give out, but fitting with the ten saves in the match and another clean sheet for the captain. An early save of the year candidate in MLS so far was his denial in the 84th minute to keep the score 0-0.
Tomas Totland: (Sub 82') 7 — Found himself in dangerous attacking positions during the first half in transition and had a decent shooting opportunity from a tough angle in the second. Defensively solid in both halves with not being afraid to take on Houston players running at him with the ball.
Tim Parker: 6 — A very high win rate in the aerial and ground duels for Parker whose defensive presence has been noticeable since coming back from injury. Defending on the dribble was a challenge in the match at times, but helped to clog up the middle of the backline and keep Houston off the scoresheet.
Kyle Heibert: 6 — Hiebert's role has continued to expand the past three games, and similar to Parker, was also successful in the air when competing for balls. Committed two fouls but wasn't put in the book by the referee.
Anthony Markanich: 6 — A couple decent shooting opportunities going wide, but those two shots along with the significant production down the left side compared to the right in the second half make this a decent showing for Markanich.
Chris Durkin: 5 — Not one of the better performances for Durkin, the partnership with Ostrák was unable to create significant opportunities come the second half and the over pressing at times from Durkin and Ostrák led to open space between the defensive and midfield areas of the field.
Tomáš Ostrák (Sub '71): 6 — Edges Durkin due to a slightly better first half performance, but the central midfield duo overall's overbearing press was not only countered by Houston with a flat back line in the second half, but also valuable counter attacking opportunities. Brought something different in terms of being the most dangerous midfielder in the match with the ball.
Rasmus Alm: 5 — A good first half showing with the dangerous opportunities down the right, from who I still think is the best crosser in the squad. Second half, Alm was very much neutralized, leading to his sub in the 64th minute.
Indiana Vassilev: 5 — An off night for Vassilev and the frustration was visible with an exchange between him and Klauss as Houston began to pass around and through City, while Indy was constantly trying to initiate City's typical press. Being moved out to the right when Jackson came on, proved very ineffective with just 23% progress down that side in the 2nd half according to MLS Stat.
Célio Pompeu: (Sub 45') 5 — A couple shots and multiple touches in the Houston box left me looking for more opportunities for a potential match opener, but a sub at halftime raises questions on what Pompeu's status is heading into next week.
João Klauss (Sub 82'): 5— Klauss was very much active up top, getting five total shots, but had a subpar finishing night with none of his expected goals going on target. The quality overall of shots for City wasn't ideal in the match, which definitely played a factor in the final third.
Substitutions
Aziel Jackson (On 45'): 7 — One of Jackson's best performances this season, very much taking his opportunity to play a whole half. Consistently getting the ball to others in the danger areas and held possession effectively.
Samuel Adeniran (On '64): 5 — His first game back since his absence and didn't get a lot of balls over the top, which is key for his production. No shots for Adeniran in his 26 minutes on the pitch.
Hosei Kijima (On '74): 5 — Not a ton to look at regarding Kijima's performance, won all of his ground duels in the midfield and attempted to create a couple of goal scoring chances,
Nökkvi Thórisson (On 82'): N/A
Joakim Nilsson (On 82'): N/A